In recent years versions of radiation detectors and dosimeters based on droplets of superheated detector liquid in a suspending medium, have been developed. Such detectors are described for instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,274, March 1979, Apfel; U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,607, September 1982, Apfel; U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,758, September 1986, Ing et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,000, October 1988, Ing. Similar detectors and dosimeters are also described in Soviet Atomic Energy (USA), Vol. 63, No. 1, pp. 565-8, July 1987, V. I. Ivanov et al.
As more experience is gained with this type of detector, it has become apparent that the sensitivity to radiation is affected significantly by variations in the operating temperature. It is desirable, for many applications where the temperature cannot be controlled, to have a known constant sensitivity. By constant sensitivity is meant a constant number of superheated droplets vapourized on exposure to a standard dose of radiation to be detected.